Since we’re now at the beginning of Stage 1, we’re starting both the planning process for events connected with the project and digging into some foundation/refresher readings in social epistemology. In recent decades, philosophers have become increasingly interested in socially-oriented epistemology. But the focus here has been on the production, distribution, and transmission of knowledge. At the same time, the difference between knowledge and understanding has been very much on the agenda of analytic epistemology. And in this case, it is quite individualistically-oriented. We want to socialize understanding (or “understand-ize” social epistemology?).

But first, we need to get our bearings a bit more in social epistemology. Alvin Goldman and Dennis Whitcomb, eds., Social Epistemology: Essential Readings seems like a good starting point. Thus, over the next two weeks, we’ll be reading and discussing papers in this collection.